I was looking through the events of a social meetup group and learned that there is an aquarium close by that I had never heard of. The event was called “Fins & Feathers: Exploring the connection between marine life and seabirds.” The guests of honor would be 2 pelicans from Willow Tree Wildlife. That sounded like such a great Nerd Adventure that of course I had to go!
The aquarium is an educational facility open to the public, aimed at creating a direct engagement between the learner and marine life so close by. It offers a number of programs and special events to help foster this.
One of the main touch tank rooms has this gorgeous mosaic mural. If you want to see the whole thing you can visit the Central Coast Aquarium in Avila Beach, CA from Tuesday through Sunday from 10 to 4. Only $8!
The aquarium has a number of touch-tanks which include a variety of animals. This one is a purple sea urchin, featuring those hard purple spikes. Like an angry tribble… It moves by projecting those thin filaments with a tiny suction cup on the end and then dragging itself along. They also had a sea cucumber which was covered with what I thought were little spikes, but when I ran my fingers along it, the “spikes” were as soft as the rest of the skin. Back to the urchin – they primarily eat kelp. In some parts of the California coast line, home to one of the biggest kelp forests in the world, the primary consumers of urchins have been removed, leaving these guys to eat unchecked. The result includes starving abalone. Everything is so interconnected!
Most of the exhibits are small but interesting. One of them featured a variety of flat-fish. Two of them were visible enough that I could get a picture which included more than an odd pair of eyes in the sand. What a cool looking critter! If you click on the image, the full sized version appears. Flat-fish are so named because they are flat – with everything moved to one side of the body. Imagine you with both eyes and ears just on the left half of your face, with 2 left arms and no right one! They evolved like this so they would bury themselves in the sand yet still be able to see, move, breath, etc.
But it was the sharks that I found the most interesting. They had 3 adult swell sharks – named for their defensive ability to curl into a U shape by biting their tail then inhaling water to swell up considerably. They are perhaps at most 3 feet long as adults, though more like 2 to 2.5 feet. They are nocturnal and were sleeping so soundly (and likely so used to being handled) that they remained completely asleep while the staff lady lifted one up so that we could gently touch it. Very cool skin! As in, nifty cool, not chilly cool. Going one way it felt like wet sand paper, and going the other you could feel the little spines on the end of each scale.
One of the swell sharks has been laying eggs for a little over 2 years now. I took a very short video of one of the eggs in which you can see the baby shark (aka pup) wiggling around. I went back the next day to get better pictures for this post, and the pup was working on hatching!
After we all milled around downstairs, enjoying wine and some snacks while learning about the local marine life on display, it was time to adjourn upstairs for the feathers part of the Fins & Feathers event. The 2 brown pelicans were both rescues, but due to injuries they will never be released back into the wild. They were clearly used to being around groups of people and handled it well. I wasn’t able to get very good shots because I neglected to charge my camera battery fully, and the shots my phone captured look like cartoons. What struck me most about the pelicans, other then their striking pouch which can hold 2-3 gallons of water, were the feathers. They didn’t look like typical feathers, not even the feathers of a duck. These feathers were more like what I’d expect to find on a penguin, but pelican sized. They also look very oily, which definitely helps the aquatic bird keep from getting waterlogged. It was just fascinating to see and I really wish the shot I captured of the feathers had turned out, but you can see still them on the wings in the photo above.
I mentioned going back the day after the event to get better pictures. While I was there, I meandered around the beach. I’m not sure what was up with my camera, but every shot of the birds was out of focus. Very frustrating. While it’s out of the focus, the best image was actually the seagull flying by me with food in its beak. If only it had been in focus, it would have been a stunning shot! Hence the name “so close!”
Avila Beach is a really cute, small hidden treasure off the beaten path. I enjoyed lunch at a little café called Blue Moon over Avila. I had the French onion soup and crème brule — both of which were literally the best of each item I’ve ever had, and those are favorites I get at a lot of places. I’m sooooo going back!
Until next time, happy adventuring!
– The Nerd Adventurer